Next to Our Lord, no other creature suffered as much as Our Most Blessed Mother. Yet, admist Her most bitter sufferings, she was filled with joy. What? How can one be suffering and joyful at the same time?
In today's world, joy is usually associated with feelings of pleasure, excitement, or relaxation. "To feel good is to be good" is the motto put forth by those who live every moment of their lives trying to satisfy their sensible desires and avoid any and every pinch of pain. However, feeling good is not always consistent with leading a holy life. As a matter of fact, feeling pain is a hallmark of the saints who at the same time led joyful lives. We can come to understand this apparent contradiction by taking a look at the makeup of our human nature.
Below is a chart entitled "The Powers of Man". You can click on the chart to view a larger image.
These powers are divided into three categories: vegetative, animal, and rational. The vegetative powers in man are those which he shares with the rest of living organisms, that is, plants and animals. The animal powers of man are those which he shares with all non-plant living organisms such as monkeys, dogs, cats, etc. These animal powers are also known as the sensitive part of man because they deal with the sensible (i.e., material) life: touch, taste, feelings, emotions, passions, etc. Each of these powers is rooted in the makeup of man's body. Unfortunately, many people today do not admit that man has powers beyond these animal powers. To such people, joy is simply a bodily response of one attaining what he desires. Love is simply a feeling. These people reduce man to the level of a monkey.
No, my friends. Man is not simply an animal. God gave man another set of powers that are not bodily, but spiritual. Hence, these powers, which reside in the soul, give man what no monkey can ever have: eternal life! These powers that set us apart from animals are called the rational powers. Man is, then, a rational animal. This rational part of man is comprised of two main powers: the intellect and will. It is this intellect and will which make man be in the image and likeness of God; it is this intellect and will which we share with the angels. The intellect was made to assent to the truth; the will was made to choose the good. It is by the intellect that God infuses in the soul the supernatural virtue of Faith; it is by the will that God infuses in the soul the supernatural virtues of Hope and Charity.
As Catholics know, the souls in heaven do not have a body, except for Our Lord and Our Lady. Those souls will be reunited with their bodies at the Last Judgement. How at this moment, then, can St. Peter see and love God in heaven without a body? It is because there are in the soul parallels to the knowing and appetitive powers that exist in the animal part of man. The intellect, also called reason, has parallels to the knowing powers of the animal part of man; the will, also called the rational appetite, has parallels to the appetitive powers of the animal part of man. Therefore, St. Peter can see and love God and thus experience joy in heaven even though his soul is currently separated from his body. We should now begin to understand how we on earth can experience joy in suffering, that is, be joyful in spirit while suffering in body.
My friends, think about Our Lord suffering terribly in His Body on the cross - torn flesh, open wounds, crowned with thorns, mocked and derided. At one point, the suffering was so intense that He cried out, "My God, My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?" Yet at that very moment, His Soul was filled with overflowing joy! Why? Because He was about to accomplish the complete fulfillment of His Father's will - the appeasement of the Divine anger and the redemption of mankind! Deo gratias! For the same reasons, Our Mother was spiritually overjoyed even in Her bodily sufferings.
It is true that suffering is an evil. God did not create man to suffer. Rather, suffering is the result of Original Sin. Let us not forget that Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Paradise. Their intellect and will had complete control over the desires of the body. The serpent could not tempt them to impurity, for example. Instead he appealed to their pride, which is a spiritual defect. After they sinned, the body became rebellious against the spirit. Ever since then, the spirit and body are at war with each other. With the help of grace, it is the spirit that must overcome the body if we are to attain everlasting glory in heaven. However, we cannot obtain this glory without suffering. God, in His Providence, uses the result of sin as the means of our sanctification because Our Lord sanctified this means by His death on the Cross.
Oh, how we run away from suffering! But let us not be cowards. Whether we like it or not, EVERYONE must suffer - rich or poor, king or peasant. What is important is what we do with that suffering that God sends us. Are we going to be like the robber who complained about it or like the one who said he deserved it? Even though both suffered the same amount of bodily pain, the former suffered his way to hell and the latter his way to heaven! But my friends, it is not enough to simply accept all sufferings with resignation. If one is to become a saint, one must actively desire and seek it! Yes, indeed. Our beloved Seraphic Father so desired and loved suffering that when a fellow Friar complained that God was being too harsh on Francis, our beloved Seraphim rebuked him! St. Francis took utter joy in his suffering, especially in the wonderful gift of the stigmata.
Where then is one to actively seek and find these opportunities for suffering? One need not look further than the Third Order of St. Francis, in particular, the Rule of Pope Nicholas IV. This wonderful Rule contains the spirit of St. Francis as originally intended, which is none other than the spirit of Christ! The penances contained in this Rule truly mortify the body in submission to the spirit and the spirit in submission to Christ. The Third Order of Penance, as it is more properly called, has for its ultimate end none other than the complete and perfect transformation of the soul into and union with Christ. Love of God is the cause, suffering is the means, and pleasing God is the end. The Rule of Pope Nicholas IV incites the cause and provides the means to achieve the end.
So my friends, to conclude, the next time we complain about the suffering that befalls us or that we have taken on of our own accord, let us look upon a crucifix and contemplate the immense suffering our sins have caused Our Lord. Only then will we remember that we deserve eternal punishment for these sins, but that Our Lord, by His suffering and death on the Cross, has given us the opportunity for eternal joy. Let us always, then, take joy in suffering!
In the Seraphic Father.
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